EAT HEALTHY: SUBSTITUES FOR BUTTER

Healthy Butter Knockoffs

Healthy eating tips: swap out your stick for these spreads and you'll be surprised how good they are

Healthy Butter KnockoffsHealthy eating tips: swap out your stick for these spreads and you'll be surprised how good they are

Todd Huffman

Healthy butter substitutes will help you cut calories, no doubt about it. But will a smear of a butter wannabe cut it on a steaming-hot blueberry muffin or a freshly flipped flapjack? The surprising answer is yes. These satisfying impostors use ingredients such as olive oil and yogurt. It will also help you eat healthy and create a creamy illusion that will please even die-hard buttah addicts.

1. Smart Balance Omega Plus Butter Spread
The closest thing to the real McCoy. Made with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols, this butter double could help your levels drop 5 to 10 percent, says Robert Eckel, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver. Use it as you would regular butter: Cook, bake, and sauté away. ($3, at supermarkets)We love it for slathering on an English muffin
In 1 tablespoon: 80 calories, 9 g fat (2.5 g saturated)

2. Olivio
It's made with heart-healthy olive oil, but there's not a smidgen of Mediterranean taste in this whipped concoction. It's easier to spread than butter and tastes slightly sweet and salty. Sub it in, guilt-free, anytime. ($1.90, at supermarkets)We love it for sautéing veggies
In 1 tablespoon: 80 calories, 8 g fat (1.5 g saturated)

3. Move Over Butter
Butter is a fat bomb, but the buttermilk in this sub has little to no fat--go figure. It still has a light, buttery flavor, though. This spread contains more water than others, so don't use it for baking. ($1.20, at supermarkets)We love it for melting on steamed vegetables
In 1 tablespoon: 50 calories, 6 g fat (1 g saturated)

4. Brummel & Brown Spread Made with Natural Yogurt
An unlikely pair--­yogurt and vegetable oil--combine to create a soft, slightly tangy schmear with half the fat and calories of butter. It doesn't have enough fat to bind cakes or breads, so it works only as a topper, says Eric Decker, Ph.D., a food science professor at the University of Massachusetts. ($3.30, at supermarkets)We love it for flavor-boosting a boring bagel
In 1 tablespoon: 45 calories, 5 g fat (1 g saturated)

5. Sunsweet Lighter Bake
Made from a blend of dried plums and apples, this gooey mixture acts just the way a fat would, keeping cookies, cakes, and muffins moist. (No one will notice the fruity hint if you don't mention it.) ($3.50, at supermarkets)We love it for baking guilt-free brownies
In 1 tablespoon: 35 calories, 0 fat